Subconsciously In Love
by Sonrisa895
Summary: Madam Hooch trys to help Minerva relize her feelings about Albus. When Minerva refuses to confess... ALbus shows up...
1. Chapter 1:Admit it!

**Subconsciously in Love **

"You love him - admit it."

"I do not! If anyone would know, it would be me."

"Not necessarily." This was yet another fight between Rolanda Hooch and Minerva McGonagall. They knew it wouldn't get them anywhere, but they still fought, trying to convince the other what 'feelings' were, or rather, how to tell what kind of feelings are present. "You could subconsciously love him. Tell me, what do you feel when I say, 'Albus is going out tonight with Poppy?'"

Minerva felt herself feel a little sick. "I feel happy that he has found someone," she lied.

"Liar! I know you are lying! You want him to be happy, yes, but you also want to be happy. Tell him how you feel, damn it!"

"If I were to tell him how I feel it would be something like this: 'Albus, I like that we are very good friends, would you like to continue to be really good friends?' How lame would that be?" She snorted at the thought.

"That's not what you feel. Don't lie to me. I could see the change in your expression when I mentioned him going out with Poppy. You didn't like the thought." She was giving Minerva an 'all knowing' glare. "Come on, Min. You never show your true emotions. All people see is stern or annoyed."

"I resent that. I don't only show stern or annoyed. When I give points out I'm not stern or annoyed. And don't call me Min ever again." Now she was giving Hooch a 'hahahahaha' look.

"Well… I don't know if that really counts. I'm thinking more about friends-wise. True, sometimes we will get a glimpse of you having fun, but that doesn't last very long."

"I don't have to take this! You can leave now."

"You are correct, I am very capable of leaving now, but I'm not going to leave until you admit what you feel."

Minerva sighed. She was about to give him when there was a knock at the door. Mumbling angrily under her breath she went and opened the door, looking even more then usually annoyed. As she swung open the door, there stood the person up for debate.

"Hello, Minerva." See the look on her face, he said, "Is this a bad time?"

"No, no. Madam Hooch was just leaving." She opened the door wider and smiled; now she had a reason to make Rolanda leave.

Hooch shot her a glare. "Think about what we talked about, please."

Minerva nodded as she shoved her out the door. Albus came in. "Where you talking about? Is it something that you would like to discuss with me? I am all for helping friends in need."

Minerva laughed slightly, "No, I think we girls can handle this one."

"I see. Well, in that case, I have something that I would like to discuss." There was a long pause in witch Minerva started to pour tea. She nodded at him to show that she was listening. "Well, you see, the thing is that the Ministry is having a ball sort of thing. I'm not sure why, but they are. And I was wondering if you would like to…accompany me for the night?"

There was another short pause while she handed him the tea. "What night is this 'ball sort of thing?'" She was making fun of him, but he seemed not to notice.

"A week from today, actually. I think that there will be dinner as well as dancing."

"I think that should be fine. I just have to remember not to give anyone detention that day." This was suppose to be a joke, but Albus didn't laugh. After a few moments of silence she said, "Is there anything else that you would like to talk about?"

"Uhh… No, no I think that is it. OH! Are we still going to play a game of chess tomorrow night?"

"I was planning on it."

"Good, sounds great. Well, I think that is all. I will let you get back to whatever it was you were doing, or rather I will let you think about what ever it is you are suppose to be thinking about." He smiled and left, leaving Minerva standing there speechless. _That was the weirdest he has ever acted, or at least close to it. _

TBC...

Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2:Chess

**Chapter two: Chess  
**A/N: I hope you like it, I think that I have a real plan for this one:). let me know!

As Minerva started getting ready for her chess game she actually  
debated wearing her hair down, but decided to wear it up. Just the  
fact that she thought about it was saying something. But still up it  
went in its usual tight bun, not one hair out of place. Looking in the  
mirror she said, "Well, I guess this is as good as it's gonna get."  
(A/N: from "Princess Diaries"… Good movie.) She took one last glance  
in the mirror before she walked out the door.

Walking down the hall she didn't see anyone but Nearly Headless Nick,  
and Mrs. Norris. Mrs. Norris gave her a very funny look, as if she  
could see what was running threw her head. 'I'm going insane', was the  
last thing she thought before knocking on the door to Albus' room.  
"Come in."

She opened the door to find, not only Albus but Rolanda Hooch and  
Poppy Pomfrey. "Ah." She sighed, "Gangs all here I see." Trying her  
best not to look irritated she sat in the closest open chair to Albus,  
which happened to be the one that was farthest from the other two.

"Don't sound so disappointed, we were just leaving." Madam Hooch got  
up then grabbed Poppy and pulled her out of the room.

"I see… Why were they in such a rush to leave?" She had and idea that  
they had been talking to him about his 'subconscious' feelings. Oh god  
please let it not be that.

"Uhhh… I'm not sure. They said something about, uh…. Nothing that  
important. Shall we play?" He indicated the chess board to the left,  
and she nodded. They sat down opposite each other. Minerva didn't like  
being so close to him, and then having to sit on the very opposite  
side of the table.

The game lasted for almost two hours, when finally Albus admitted  
defeat. "Wow Albus, I thought that game would never end. Normally it  
only takes an hour, today it took two. But I'm not complaining."

"Nor am I. Very well played." It was almost 11pm. true this wasn't  
that late, but they had never been up that late together.

"I think that I should be going. I have a lot of grading to do  
tomorrow and I was hoping to wake up early and get some done before  
breakfast."

"Oh, okay. Well then I will come by tomorrow morning. See you then."  
He walked to the door and opened it. She could feel him watching her  
walk, this made her a little uncomfortable, but she decided to try and  
ignore it. Apparently she did a very bad job of itbecause when shegot to the last three stepsshe fell. Hitting the ground with a crunch she  
sat, in pain, and wondering what to do next. Since he had been  
watching her, Albus also saw her fall.

Running down the steps and carefully stepping over her, be bent down.  
And apparently a little to fast because all of a sudden they were  
practically nose to nose. Taking a few seconds to recover his sudden  
'fall' to the ground he backed up a few feet. Now they were a  
comfortable two feet away, and then he spoke. "Are you alright?"

"I will be as long as I get to Poppy. My ankle hurt like none other."  
She situated herself so that she would be able to get up, when she  
tried to push herself up it failed, and she slammed back to the  
ground.

Albus stood up and reached for her hands, they were warm and shaking  
with pain. When she tried to put a little bit of pressure on it she  
winced in pain and threw her arms around Albus. Instantly he put his  
arm around her waist and helped her steady herself. When she had she  
made a movement for him to let go.

"Are you crazy?"

She glared at him. "Are we going to start walking then?"

"No, I am going to start walking; you on the other hand are going to  
start hopping." He put a little pressure on her waist to signify he  
was kidding. When her face did not show any sign of amusement he  
decided to continue the**ir** walk in silence. Until of course they got the hospital wing, then Minerva tried desperately to 'shake him off.'

When Poppy had finished Minerva was eager to leave so, she asked if  
she could. When Poppy said that Minerva shouldn't be walking on her  
foot and offered to give her a wheel chair Albus said that it wasn't  
necessary and that he would accompany her to her rooms.


	3. Chapter 3:Walking to her rooms

Hey... Sorry that its taken me so long to update. I really didnt plan on it taking so long. But here you go. Let me know what you think.

Albus wrapped his arm around her waist and placed his hand firmly on her hip. When he did this, Madams Hooch and Pomfrey exchanged a look of surprise and delight when Minerva didn't pull away from him. Poppy knew that Minerva was perfectly fine to walk to her rooms… But also knew Albus too well that if she said that Minerva needed a wheel chair he would offer to bring her. They slowly made their way out of the hospital wing doors.

At first they walked in silence. Albus could tell that Minerva was holding something in, so he tried to start a conversation.

"Umm, how does you ankle feel?"

"Fine." Her voice was bitter as she shook her head. "Sorry. I didn't mean that to sound so… harsh. I am just thinking about the looks they exchanged. Why do they always do this! Trying to get involved in things that don't concern them. I wish that they would just stop creating so much pain and make me think horrible thoughts." She made a noise of frustration and then removed Albus' hand from her waist, moving farther away from him. Then continued on her rant. "She tries to convince me of things I already know, or tries to tell me things that aren't true. Constantly argues with me. I don't know what her deal is!"

"MMMM… I am getting a little confused… Before you were saying they, and now you are saying she. I am assuming the 'they' is Poppy and Rolanda, but the 'she'… Is the 'she' one of them, or is there another party in this fiasco that I should know about?" He looked at her while she glared at him, but to his relief, her glare softened.

"The 'they' is Poppy and Rolanda. And the she… that would most definitely be Rolanda. She always argues with me. And no matter what it is about, neither one of us will give in… Even if we know the other is right." She sighed, "I guess I shouldn't be that mad. She is my best friend, after all."

"Were you two arguing about something the other day when I walked in?"

"As a matter of fact, we were."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I interrupted. I was wondering why you looked so… annoyed." He was saying this more to himself then to her.

"Yeah. But that argument has been going on for… well over five year. But yesterday I almost gave in pestering, so thank you for saving me." She gave him a smile as they continued to walk down the corridor.

"I see… Are you sure it's a good thing that you didn't give in? I mean, if this argument has been going on for over five years, why not just end it?"

"Well, you see, that would create another argument. It's a never-ending thing with her. Maybe I should find a new best friend… Poppy seems like she would be rather good at the 'best friend' title."

Albus chuckled. "Yes, I do believe that Poppy would make a splendid best friend."

"Well, Headmaster Dumbledore, you know who my best friend is; tell me, who is your best friend?" Her voice was mocking as she nearly threw his words back at him.

"Well Professor, you are probably the only person in this school to have to ask me that very question, and yet you are probably the only person who should be able to state that, in fact, you are my best friend." The childish game they had been playing seemed to leave for a moment… But only for a moment.

"I will have to remember that for future purposes." They reached her door, and she spun on her good ankle to face him. "Well, thank you very much for escorting me back to my rooms Headmaster." She was still calling him by his title in an uncharacteristic way. Minerva was flirting.

"And you are very welcome. I will be here tomorrow morning to escort you to breakfast."

Minerva lost her mocking, causal voice, and changing quickly into her serious stance. "That isn't necessary. It is a great deal out of your way, and I believe I have demonstrated that I am very capable of walking to my rooms. Therefore--"

Albus started to wave away her protests before she could even begin properly. "I am coming here because I would like to. But if you have any further objection, then I will not come."

"Oh, no. Um. That's fine. I…I will be ready by seven, so any time after that is fine."

"Aright, I will see you tomorrow morning at seven." He started to turn and walk away.

"Albus! Breakfast doesn't start until eight. That's an hour early! Are you seriously going to come that early?" She had started to follow him down the corridor. He wasn't walking very fast, so she was a scant three feet from him when he stopped and turned to face her again. She almost ran right in to him, but he stopped her by grabbing her slim arms with his long fingers. However, Minerva's propulsion wasn't done with her quite yet, and when she finally came to a full halt, she found herself very nearly pressed against Albus' torso.

They stared into the other's eyes for a long moment. Never breaking contact, he bent down and whispered, "Have you ever realized…" She was hanging on to every word that escaped his lips, and she could feel his breath on her ear. "You are rather accident prone."  
He backed up slowly with his hands still on her arms. Gazes still holding, he took her hand and kissed it softly. "Good night, Professor." With that, he turned and left.  
It was all Minerva could do to stand in the middle of the chilly corridor, her startled green orbs following his progress until he turned the corner, vanishing with a swish of his blue robes. After a moment of composing herself, she whispered to the empty hallway, "Goodnight, Albus."

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4:Before Breakfast

Chapter Four:

A/N: I am so sorry that this took my so freakin' long. I will try not to take so long from now on…. Lol. Here you go. I'm in pre-calc right now, and school in general is taking up a lot of my time. But I hope that you like this next chapter. Let me know that you think!

Minerva was waiting for Albus to arrive 10 minutes before he had said. But she was so nervous that time just seemed to snail by. She already decided that she wasn't going to dress up for this; it wasn't a date or anything. Well she didn't think it was a date. Why is he coming so early? This is ridiculous, what are we going to do for an hour. Well… I could think of a few- NO! STOP!

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in" Minerva called as she stood up and straitened out her robes.

"Good morning."

"Good morning Albus." He held out his arm and she took it graciously. "Might I ask where we are going?"

He replied, "You'll see." As he took her arm in his and led her down the corridor. They walked in silence besides the 'katap' noise that their shows were making.

Finally Minerva couldn't stand it any longer. She had to know where they were going or it would drive her insane. She stopped suddenly and turned to face Albus who also stopped "tell me where we are going, or I am not going to move from this spot."

Minerva was being dead serious, but Albus still couldn't hold back the slight smile that crept up onto his lips as he took a seat on the floor. "Albus, what are you doing?"

"Well Minerva, if you aren't going to move from that very spot until I tell you, you will be standing there for a very long time. And I am not about to leave you standing here, so I will sit down and wait for you to trust me and go on a little walk before breakfast." Minerva was glaring at him. She was stubborn, but sometimes Albus could be even more stubborn. He wasn't really helping her at all; he was so cute saying he wasn't going to leave her.

Still glaring he reached for his hand to help him up. "There's no use sitting here, or standing here for that matter. You are just as stubborn as me if not more in some matters."

Reaching for her hand he said, "I'm very glad that it didn't take you long to figure that out. We could have been here for a while and then we would have been late for breakfast."

He led her out onto the grounds. The cool morning air was refreshing, but a little cold. Minerva took a deep breath as she looked out across the lake as the sun rose. There were all sorts of colors, oranges, pinks, and yellows. "Pretty isn't it." She said as she admired the sky.

"Yes, very beautiful." They continued to walk farther and farther from the school as they made their way around the lake. They didn't talk much, but it was a more comfortable silence then before. Both were looking at the beauty around them. The only difference was, Minerva was looking at the landscape. While Albus was looking at the women he was walking with.

Minerva finally felt his gaze and turned her head to look at him. There was a single moment when she looked into his eyes that she saw love. They gazed into each others eyes for a few moments before Minerva felt a tug on her robes, as she fell to the grassy floor with a slight thud. "Ouch"

Albus bent down to her current level on the ground, "are you ok?" He sounded concerned but when Minerva started to laugh, he got confused. "What is so funny?"

"I think I am accident prone." She had turned over onto her back and was facing the sky. But instead of looking at the sky, she was staring into Albus' eyes. "Well… only when I am around you that is."

He looked at her with an expression of confusion "why only when you are around me?" He laid down next to her so they were both now staring that the sky as the sun began to rise.

"Because you always tend to catch me off guard. I always feel like I am being watched when I am around you, and it makes me feel self-conscious."

"I'm sorry that you feel that way. I will stop watching you so much."

"Its not that I mind you watching, it's just that I feel like I'm going to do something stupid. Which might I add, happened."

"Oh I see... So you don't mind that I watch you?" Albus was trying to find out, in a playful sort of manner how Minerva actually felt about it. More often the not had it seemed like they have a few sparks flying.

"Yes. Well no… wait. I do and I don't." Minerva felt like se was being cornered and she didn't like it. She stood up and looked at the sun which had fully risen now. "I think that its just about time for breakfast. We might want to go and start so that the students don't starve to death." And with that she turned and started walking up to the castle not looking back to acknowledge the "Minerva, wait" that followed her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: **

"Minerva, why did you leave like that?" Albus asked when he finally got to the Great hall.

"I didn't want to be late. And I knew that if we walked back together we would be. We tend to walk rather slowly if you haven't noticed." She wasn't making eye contact with him even when he spoke again.

"Are you sure? I hope it didn't have anything to do with what I said." Minerva started to shake her head but then stopped and looked at him.

"Why did you say that you like to watch me?" She had a tear in her eye. The whole way back to the castle she had been thinking about what he had said, what she had said. She has always been a little confused by him, but now it she was the most confused she had ever been.

"Because I like to watch you." He said simply as if it answered all of her questions.

"But why?"

Albus was finding it harder and harder not to go right out there and say 'because I love you.' He wasn't sure how she would take it. And he didn't want to tell her in front of the whole school in the great hall.

His mind was working over-time trying to think of a good reason for watching her. Deciding that there wasn't a really good reason besides 'I love you' he chose "because you are my best friend. And I like to know what's going on with you, and it is quite fun to watch your facial expressions." Minerva's face sank a little at his words.

"Oh. okay." She turned to her meal, but she could still feel his gaze on her.


	6. Chapter 6

Alright guys, this is the last chapter, and its short, and its taken me forever to get up. I am really sorry. So let me know what you think… I'm not sure what I think about it so yeah. Tell the truth. I might come back and change this part. So thanks for reading!

My other stories won't take me this long to get up. I promise.

**Chapter 6:**

Albus sat in his room watching the flames dance around. _Why was I so stupid? I could have told her before breakfast, or when we were in the hall. It would have just came as a shock, she would have composed herself and –_ There was a small pop, and Albus looked up to find one of the house elf's looking at him.

"I is sorry to bother yous Sr. but dinner is goings to be late if you does not get down and starts it."

"Ah, yes. Very well, I will be down in a minute. Thank you very much." And the house elf bowed and left. Albus got up to leave but when he opened the door he found Minerva standing there, and looking confused.

"I um – Well… I-" She couldn't think of the words. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. After all she had been standing outside his door for over an hour.

"Yes?"

"Aaaahhhh… Dinner is about to start, and I noticed you weren't there so I was coming to see if you forgot to tell me you were going to be at the Ministry or something." Minerva was even surprised at what she was saying. She didn't even process that before it came out.

"Oh no no no. I was just in here watching the fire and I lost track of the time. Would you like to accompany me down to dinner?" He held out his arm and she took it graciously.

After a few moments of silence Minerva asked, "Why were you watching the fire?"

There was a moment when Albus was stuck thinking, what should he say, he always watched the fire when he thought about Minerva. Should he lie again? Deciding that now was as good a time as any to tell her. "Its what I do when I am thinking about you."

Minerva paused, confused again. "What?"

"I lied when I told you why I like to watch you." Minerva was getting more and more confused as he went.

"What do you mean?"

"I watch you because I love you Min. I always have. I just didn't know how to tell you."

Minerva was thinking for a moments trying to take all of this in. Then in one motion she pushed him up against the wall, and kissed him. Albus was shocked, Minerva was about to pull away because he wasn't responding but then he realized this was really happening. So he kissed her back, and put is arms around her waist and pulled her closer. A few minutes later they broke apart and smiled at each other.

"Now that was some kiss." Albus said before kissing her again.

They never did make it all the way down to dinner that night.

A/N: Ok, for everyone who is reading this in one sitting or they remember what was going on, I never did bring them to the ball. But if you want me to I can. lol. I am really out of it right now. I am really sorry.


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